From ghostly prostitutes to the phantoms of deformed children, this episode looks at the top ghost stories, paranormal tales and haunted places of Washington state, USA.
The Palace Hotel
The Palace Hotel was built in 1889 by Captain Henry Tibbals, a retired sea captain and colorful character in Port Townsend’s history. The building has housed a number of different businesses throughout the years, including a brothel in the early 1900s.
The ghosts of the past seem to be sticking around in the Palace Hotel… literally. The apparition of a lady, perhaps one of the morally-casual women of the brothel, in an old fashioned blue dress is seen around rooms 3 and 4.
The ghost of a homeless man who the hotel staff used to let stay there has also been seen in the basement. Even the phantom of Captain Tibbals himself is said to walk the lower floors. A more menacing presence is the shadowy wraith that has been seen following guests through the hallways of the Palace Hotel.
The Rothschild House Museum
Serving as a home to the Rothschilds until the mid-1960s, the Rothschild House Museum is said to be still inhabited by members of the family, now long dead.
Walking through the building, guests complain of sudden chills from bizarre cold spots that seem to have no explanation. Guests and staff have also been startled by the sudden slamming of doors in empty rooms.
One ghost, said to haunt the upper floors of the house, is thought to be that of a member of the family who committed suicide. The living who experience that haunting say they are overcome with a feeling of sadness.
The Old Tacoma City Hall
Built in 1893, the Old Tacoma City Hall served as Tacoma’s center of political power until the 1950s. Since that time, the building has survived fire and neglect, but remains active with supernatural activity.
One of the most obvious happenings is the ringing of the massive bells in the bell tower by an invisible force. The building’s managers even staked out the bell tower one night trying to catch the ringer, but no one was ever seen.
Security guards have often chased shadowy figures down the building’s hallways, only to have their chase end as their quarry vanishes into thin air. Visitors also claim to hear someone coughing near them, but when they look, they are alone.
Northern State Hospital
The Northern State Hospital has its share of tragedies in its history, as you might expect of a hospital. Built in 1912, Northern State has seen a lot of death, some from the brutal lobotomies that were performed there.
Visitors report seeing the phantoms of an old man wandering the halls. There is also a little girl that’s been seen playing with a red ball, just before she vanishes.
Today the hospital is a jobs corp and rehab center, but the change of purpose hasn’t seemed to evict the building’s former residents.
Kells Irish Pub
Another building with a dark past that might not be obvious from what it is today is Kells Irish Pub. In its previous life, the building was E.R. Butterworth and Sons Mortuary.
Disease, accidents and violent crime passed a lot of people through the mortuary’s doors, and it seems that some are still there. Today’s living patrons report seeing a number of apparitions wandering around the place.
One is a tall man dressed in a suit and tie that walks up to the bar, before vanishing. Another is the unfortunate figure of a deformed child. The child possibly hearkens back to one controversial doctor who treated disease with starvation. Not surprisingly, many of the doctor’s patients ended up in E.R. Butterworth and Sons Mortuary. Maybe some of them are still there today.